TFM Midday Update 5-14-2024

CORN

  • Corn is trading lower at midday with the majority of losses in the front months and new crop only down around a cent. Both July and December futures remain over their 100-day moving averages and are in an upwards trend.
  • Yesterday, the USDA released its crop progress report which showed that 49% of the corn crop has been planted which was exactly within the average trade guesses. This compares to 36% last week, 60% a year ago, and the 5-year average of 54%, so it is clear that rains have caused significant delays.
  • This morning, the USDA reported that 405,000 metric tons of corn were sold to Mexico.
  • Brazil’s CONAB has revised its estimate for the 23/24 corn crop higher to 111.6 mmt which remains sharply lower than the USDA’s guess on Friday of 122.0 mmt, thought the gap has narrowed slightly.

SOYBEANS

  • Soybeans are trading lower this morning and are being pulled down by sharply lower soybean oil. July futures are sitting right at the 100-day moving average and November futures are above the 100-day. Soybean meal is higher by 1.50% and is helping to offset some of the losses in bean oil.
  • Soybean oil had previously been rallying due to rumors that the administration would impose tariffs on used Chinese cooking oil, but this morning the tariffs that were announced did not include it but rather focused on computer chips, critical minerals, and EV’s.
  • Yesterday’s crop progress report showed that 35% of the soybean crop has been planted which was lower than the average trade guess of 39%. This compares to 25% last week, 45% a year ago, and the 5-year average of 34%. 16% of the crop is reportedly emerged which compares to 9% last week.

WHEAT

  • All three US wheat classes are trading lower at midday, likely on profit taking after the recent strong rally.
  • The USDA kept winter wheat condition unchanged at 50% good to excellent in yesterday’s crop progress report. Additionally, they said that 61% of the spring wheat crop is planted, which compares to 35% last year and 48% average.
  • There are still weather concerns globally that may affect wheat, including the freezing temperatures in Russia that may damage their crops. Dryness also persists in the Black Sea region, adding to concerns. Additionally, western Europe is seeing too much wet weather that is degrading their wheat conditions.

Author

Amanda Brill

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